How to Wire Wrap a Headpin

In this video, I’ll show you how to wire wrap a bead on a headpin – which is a basic jewelry making technique that’s great for everyone to know!

Wrapped loops are much more secure than simple wire loops – I almost always prefer a wrapped loop to an open loop. Another advantage to the wrapped loop is that since it’s more secure, you can use much finer wire than you can with the open loops.

I’ll show you slowly step-by-step how to create a wrapped wire loop for a beaded dangle. One of the keys to a successful and straight wire wrapped loop is the 90 degree angle trick that I demonstrate here. Keep that in mind as you wire wrap and you’re well on your way to perfecting this important wire wrapping technique!

TOOLS MATERIALS:

• Headpins (available in my shop or on Amazon) • Beads (I used these lovely teal pearls) • Round Nose Pliers • Chain Nose Pliers • Flush Cutters

If you are on a mobile device or are otherwise unable to view the embedded video, see > How to Wire Wrap a Headpin < by clicking here to watch on YouTube.

NOTES:

The bead I use in the video is about 7-8mm and the headpin is 1.5 inches (38mm) long. Using larger beads will leave you less room to wrap so you will probably want to use a longer headpin. If you’re just starting out I highly recommend leaving no less than 1.25″ (32mm) to work with after your bead is on the headpin. In fact, even more than that is probably better while you practice. This will generate a little bit more waste, so I highly suggest practicing with inexpensive materials at first.

Also keep in mind that the size of your loop – which is determined by where you wrap around the tapered jaw of the pliers – can take up more or less wire depending on the size. For reference, my loops on these dangles are 3mm. And don’t forget that all pliers are different – mine are very fine tipped round nose pliers.

If you have some jewelry wire but no headpins lying around, you can make your own fancy knotted headpins to play with!

For uniform loops when wire wrapping, use a fine tipped marker to draw a line on one of the jaws of your pliers. Then simply line your wire up with the line before wrapping your loops.

Like this project? See more wire wrapping tutorials.